Dai Sport columnist Phil Bennett says the Dragons’ record this season is just not good enough, the Blues are in danger of losing touch with the top six, whilst only the Scarlets and the Ospreys can be relied upon to raise a new year cheer.

The Scarlets’ hopes of Rhys Priestland returning to the region could be undermined by Bath’s determination to keep him. Priestland is out of contract at the end of the season and the Scarlets would like him to re-join them to help plug the gap at full-back by Liam Williams’ impending move to Saracens.

Wayne Pivac believes the Scarlets have put clear red water between themselves and the Cardiff Blues in the race for top four places in the Guinness Pro 12. Steff Evans scored one try and created another as Scarlets held on to celebrate an important 15-10 derby victory over the Blues at Parc Y Scarlets.

Scarlets captain Ken Owens admitted his side contributed to their own downfall after they had three players sent to the sin during their derby defeat to the Ospreys. Rob Evans, Will Boyde and Steff Evans were all given yellow cards at the Liberty Stadium as the Ospreys came from behind to win 19-9 and move to second in the Guinness Pro 12 table.

Dan Biggar has promised the Ospreys will aim to ignite their derby against the Scarlets through the scorching pace of Keelan Giles. The neighbours and fierce rivals meet at the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday with much of the focus on 18-year-old Giles, who has scored 11 tries in seven matches for his region this season.

Dai Sport columnist Phil Bennett doesn’t want much for Christmas – just a couple of packed stadiums, some local feuding, and signals that things are improving at the top level of Welsh rugby.

Regional rugby has been around for 13 years – soon to be 14 as we head towards 2017 – but the name-calling over names shows no signs of going away. Robin Davey says the label-obsessed regions tend to be those in the east of Wales, where the teams have been less successful, too.

Scott Williams insists his Scarlets team have given themselves an outside chance of making the knockout stages of the European Champions Cup. The Wales centre scored the only try of the match before the region clung on to beat three-times champions Toulon, 22-21 on Sunday.

Wayne Pivac has claimed his Scarlets teams were denied a chance to topple Toulon due to a poor call from referee Alex Ruiz. The Scarlets head coach was critical of the decision not to award what would have been a crucial try for Steffan Evans as his team were beaten 31-20 in the European Champions Cup on Sunday.

In his first column for Dai Sport former Wales and Lions captain Phil Bennett looks at the European action for the four Welsh regions at the weekend and says the Scarlets can cause a major surprise. Whisper it quietly, but Toulon are not the force of old and I’m backing the Scarlets to beat them on Saturday.

The Women’s Regional Championship will once again come down to a winner takes all shootout between West Wales rivals Ospreys and Scarlets thanks to the Scarlets securing a seven-try-to-one, 35-5 victory away to the Blues at Cardiff Arms Park on Sunday. With both teams entering the encounter with vastly changed teams due to injury and unavailability, the game lacked the fluidity of previous matches in the championship, but this was more than made up for by the aggression and determination of both teams throughout.

Richard Hibbard has extended his stay in English rugby as reports continue to link Liam Williams with a move to Saracens. Hibbard – first choice hooker the last time the Lions played a Test in 2013 – has signed a new two-year contract at Gloucester.